Eduardo Nunez' home run against Justin Verlander justified Joe Girardi's faith in him

Eduardo Nunez homers in the ninth inning of Game 3, off Justin Verlander.John Munson/The Star-Ledger

DETROIT — Eduardo Nunez said he wasn’t surprised to be in the Game 3 lineup, starting at shortstop, when the Yankees faced Tigers ace Justin Verlander Tuesday night. Not taken aback or shocked, even though he’d started only once in the postseason, as the designated hitter.

So there’s no way he’ll be surprised if he’s back in the lineup Thursday for Game 4, back at shortstop, to face the Tigers’ other strikeout artist, Max Scherzer, after Wednesday night’s game was postponed.

“Nunez has played well for us,” said manager Joe Girardi. “Defensively, he’s made some plays for us in this series. And I’ve really liked his at-bats.”

Inserting Nunez was part of Girardi’s plan to change his struggling team’s offensive fortunes with a more contact/action approach against Verlander. Brett Gardner hit leadoff and played left field while Nunez batted ninth. While Gardner failed to reach base in four at-bats, Nunez provided the Yankees with their best moment of the night.

Ironically, a guy inserted into the game to get on base and make things happen, hit a home run.

Leading off the ninth, Nunez worked a nine-pitch at-bat, fouling off six pitches, before getting a hanging curveball and belting it on a line over the left-field fence.

“Nunez put up one of his best at-bats, given the situation, I have ever seen, especially with me on the mound,” said Verlander, who had allowed only a pair of Ichiro Suzuki singles to that point in the game. Nunez’s homer cost Verlander a complete game.

“I’ve faced Verlander before,” Nunez said. “I’ve hit him. He made great pitches all game long, but he was a little bit off in the top of the ninth and made a mistake. He threw me a curveball that he wanted down, and he missed up. I was thinking, ‘Don’t try to do too much — just get on base,’

”When I hit the home run, I was thinking we could come back and win the game. But we lost. I was excited, but then I was sad.”

Nunez became the first Yankees’ shortstop other than Derek Jeter to hit a home run in a postseason game since Jim Mason in Game 3 of the 1976 World Series against the Reds.

Before Wednesday’s game was postponed, Nunez’s name was back on the card as Girardi announced he’d roll with a similar style lineup against Scherzer. The only major difference, in terms of personnel, was sitting Curtis Granderson in favor of Nick Swisher.
The manager, while admitting it’s been difficult to have to put established stars like Granderson and Alex Rodriguez on the bench, said he’s simply “trying to win one ballgame.”

“This is not easy to do and not necessarily what I want to do,” Girardi said. “You’d like to have a steadfast lineup. But we have guys who are struggling and sometimes you have to make changes. You’re going to be questioned about them, but I’m trying to do what I think is the best thing to win a game.”